Antiphony by Paul Oakley

Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

With several Survivor albums under his belt, this is Oakley's first self-funded and independent release which brings together new material plus some previously unrecorded songs that have been heard on the live circuit. From the mysterious cover art to the instrumental "Outro" at the end of the album, it is obvious that a great deal of time, effort and love have been injected into 'Antiphony.' The proceedings kick off in true Oakley fashion with "Praise You" featuring his trademark full on guitars and reckless energy. "All Around The World" and the Oasis-tinged "Keep Me Always" continue in this vein but on the whole this is one of his more contemplative collections with the majority of the tracks being slower and quieter. The gentle worship of the piano-led "I See The Lord" and "I Stand Amazed" ring true of a man who has previously claimed to be ruined by God and unable to write about anything else than his master whilst "Ever Faithful God" (co-written with producer Chris Spring) is every inch a potential worship classic. In terms of instrumentation, it's pretty much the standard guitars, bass and drums with only a few exceptions to this rule - examples being Naomi Paule's wonderful Eastern flavoured cello in "Search Me O God" and some very atmospheric electric piano in the "Open Up The Gates". Paul is on top form here and this could certainly be one of the most significant releases of the year.